Park National Corp OH Cuts Holdings in Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Park National Corp OH trimmed its stake in shares of Microsoft Co. (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 6.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 328,782 shares of the software giant's stock after selling 22,848 shares during the period. Microsoft comprises about 5.3% of Park National Corp OH's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Park National Corp OH's holdings in Microsoft were worth $138,325,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter valued at about $35,920,047,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Microsoft during the 4th quarter valued at $9,625,201,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Microsoft by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 664,908,939 shares of the software giant's stock worth $250,032,357,000 after buying an additional 15,701,937 shares in the last quarter. TCI Fund Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Microsoft in the fourth quarter worth $4,000,376,000. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 2.7% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 215,874,152 shares of the software giant's stock worth $68,162,263,000 after acquiring an additional 5,762,902 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 71.13% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Price Performance

Shares of MSFT traded down $2.03 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $446.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,112,504 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,740,332. Microsoft Co. has a fifty-two week low of $309.45 and a fifty-two week high of $450.94. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.64, a PEG ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 0.89. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $419.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $406.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.23.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The software giant reported $2.94 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.81 by $0.13. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.43% and a return on equity of 37.54%. The firm had revenue of $61.86 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.45 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 17.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Microsoft Co. will post 11.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Microsoft Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, August 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.75 per share. This represents a $3.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.67%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 15th. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is 25.97%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently commented on MSFT shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Microsoft from $450.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, April 26th. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Microsoft from $450.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, June 7th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Microsoft from $465.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $500.00 price target on shares of Microsoft in a report on Friday, May 24th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Microsoft from $440.00 to $470.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, April 26th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-three have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $465.83.

Insider Activity at Microsoft

In other news, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer now directly owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $425.68, for a total transaction of $10,642,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 104,949 shares of the company's stock, valued at $44,674,690.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CMO Takeshi Numoto sold 244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $415.53, for a total value of $101,389.32. Following the sale, the chief marketing officer now owns 47,011 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,534,480.83. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,566 shares of company stock worth $10,877,535 in the last quarter. 0.03% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Microsoft Profile

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.